A year after opening, Riverhead ice rink still lacks fire hydrant, operating with temporary approvals

After a year of operation, the Riverhead Town-owned ice rink at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton still does not have a permanent certificate of occupancy because there is no fire hydrant close enough to the rink to satisfy fire code standards, according to the town’s chief fire marshal.

The New York State Fire Code requires facilities or buildings like the rink located more than 400 feet away from the nearest fire hydrant to have an on-site fire hydrant, as required by a fire code official. 

Chief Fire Marshal Andrew Smith has required the on-site hydrant because the hydrant closest to the Peconic Hockey domed rink is on Middle Country Road (N.Y. Route 25), where the nearest public water main is located. Smith said he is requiring a hydrant be located no more than 400 feet from the facility before he will sign off on a permanent certificate of occupancy. The permanent certificate of occupancy, or C.O., is required for the legal occupancy of a building and confirms that the building complies with all applicable safety laws.

“I told them that they needed the hydrant last year,” Smith said. The fire marshal agreed to let the rink open with a temporary certificate of occupancy, to give the rink operator a time to install the hydrant, which requires the extension of a public water main from Route 25.

“And we do have a hydrant out on [Route] 25 there. It’s not within 400 feet, but there is a hydrant there,” Smith said. The hydrant on Route 25 is within 1,000 feet of the rink. “So we were able to articulate that we’ll give them some time and let them operate under the [temporary certificate of occupancy], get some money up, which they’re doing,” he said.

The temporary certificate of occupancy, first issued last November, is good for 90 days and has been renewed four times by the Riverhead Building Department since the ice rink opened, according to town documents obtained through Freedom of Information Law.

Temporary certificates of occupancy are issued when the property is deemed safe to occupy, but there are outstanding issues that prevent a permanent CO from being issued.

“I know if something were to happen there, the fire service is going to lay into that hydrant on [Route] 25,” Smith said. “And they have over 1,000 feet [of hose] on every engine. So they’re going to get there with the water supply.” 

Currently the only source of water for the facility is a one-inch line extended from the town’s nearby dog park, which supplies water for the dog park via a spigot located there. It is insufficient for firefighting purposes.

The domed rink is equipped with a fire alarm system and appropriate emergency exits, Smith said.

Smith said he would have “ideally liked” the facility to be open for only six months without the fire hydrant, but it’s taken longer than expected to get the water main extended and the hydrant installed.

The ice rink facility was built and donated to the town by the Peconic Hockey Foundation, a Wading River-based nonprofit organization, on town-owned land at Veterans Memorial Park, pursuant to a license agreement approved by the Town Board in October 2022. Under that agreement, Peconic Hockey operates the rink, which opened in November 2023. 

The lack of a fire hydrant within 400 feet of the rink has halted the further development of the ice rink facility. Smith said he also won’t sign off on constructing any more indoor amenities on the property, including locker rooms, until a fire hydrant is installed. 

Peconic Hockey Foundation President Troy Albert said yesterday the ice rink has put plans for permanent locker rooms on hold for now, and is currently using temporary tents instead.

“We have honored everything the town has asked of us. We’ve done all the right things. So if we’re on a temporary certificate right now, then we’re just following the town’s rules,” Albert said. “The town owns the building, so it’s in their hands. We raised the $3 million. We built it and we donated it to the town.”

Peconic Hockey has also constructed an outdoor dek skating rink, east of the domed rink. The dek rink will be converted into an ice rink for the winter months.

Council Member Ken Rothwell, the board member who first brought Peconic Hockey to the Town Board and has led the development of the facility for the Town Board, said the fire hydrant was not a cost Peconic Hockey was considering when it first constructed the facility. Smith required the hydrant when he took over the oversight of the project from former Chief Fire Marshal Craig Zitek, Rothwell said.

“We absolutely 100% know the structure is safe and if there was a fire, we have the ability and the means to fight it, to protect it,” said Rothwell, who serves as a volunteer firefighter for the Wading River Fire Department. “But Andrew is correct to say that when there’s a better way, you need to utilize it. When the state says fighting fires is easier when your hydrants are closer, well then let’s get the hydrants closer.”

“I think in general, the town has always wanted to see a fire hydrant up there, just because of the parking lots — for car fires and other things. So it would benefit the town to have a fire hydrant closer,” Rothwell said. “So I think the goal is to work with Peconic Hockey to try to help in one way or another, to split some of the costs.” 

Rothwell said he isn’t sure whether the town is responsible for putting in the hydrants. 

“I have to look at the contract,” he said. “I think the town should absolutely be participating in the installation of it, because it’s generalized fire protection. And the dome itself was donated to the town. And so it is our building.” The town should be looking to protect its assets, he said.

Riverhead Town, in its agreement with Peconic Hockey Foundation, took responsibility for, among other things, “the cost of extending and installing electric and water utilities” to facility site. Peconic Hockey is responsible for connections of the facility to other necessary utilities, the agreement states.

Extending a water main to supply a fire hydrant within 400 feet of the domed rink will cost around $170,000: $150,000 for the pipe and $20,000 for engineering costs, Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini said in an interview last month.

The town is looking for grant opportunities for the water main extension and hydrants, but “there’s very little fire protection grants,” Rothwell said. He said the town could possibly use funding it has left over from other projects for the water extension. 

Recent brush fires in the town have emphasized the need for additional fire hydrants near wooded areas like Veterans Memorial Park, located within the Long Island Pine Barrens region, town officials say.

Supervisor Tim Hubbard said town officials have discussed two hydrants: one closer to the ice rink facility and one closer to the wooded area to the north of the rink. When asked how it will be funded, Hubbard said, “We haven’t got that far into it.” He said the town might split the cost with Peconic Hockey. 

“It’s still in discussion” about how the hydrants will be funded, Albert said yesterday. “We don’t have any set plans right now for actual fundraising for the hydrant. We have to decide what we can do going forward, how much money we have and how much money we can raise.”